Sycuan Presents: Filipinos Vs Mexicans

Filipino Superstar Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao may have a December mega bout against Oscar de La Hoya but last night he was ringside to watch his new promotional company take birth in partnership with Sycuan Ringside Promotions of San Diego. The outdoor venue adjacent to The Sycuan Casino played host to a sold out crowd who came to watch the card billed as “Mexico vs. The Philippines”.

Super Bantamweights Bernabe Concepcion and Giovanni Caro came to put on show and that’s exactly what they did. The first round started off with a bang as the action picked up quickly. Caro landed some nice rights and outhustled Concepcion to take the first. In the second round, Concepcion landed a hard straight right that dropped Caro for an eight count. Caro got up, recovered nicely and continued to the end of the round. Nice accurate punching by Caro in the third as he started landing punches from awkward angles with much success.

Very competitive action in the fourth as both men turned up the heat. Very nice head and body combinations by Concepcion. Caro responded the only way he knows how. With more aggression. More solid combinations by Caro as he moved forward and Concepcion engaged him bravely. It turned into a war in the fifth round as both men landed with bad intentions. They weren’t going to hold anything back and the crowd loved it.

More toe to toe action in the sixth as Caro landed repeatedly with Concepcion landing a couple of bombs that the Mexican withstood without problems. In the seventh, Caro used an effective jab to work his way inside with some nice uppercuts. Concepcion landed his right several times but Caro seemingly outworked him for the round. With Concepcion’s left eye closing in the eighth round, Caro took advantage and had him in serious problems. Concepcion landed a third low blow to Caro’s lower extremities which prompted referee Jose Cobian to deduct one point. Caro got a short rest but it wasn’t enough. Meanwhile, the ring doctor examined Concepcion’s eye.

Sensing urgency after seeing the doctor, Concepcion fought ferociously and landed a left and right hand combination that put Caro on the canvas for a final count. A surprising turnaround that came at two minutes and thirty five seconds of the eighth round just as the fight was turning in Caros’ favor. An exciting and dramatic win for the young man from the Philippines whose record now stands at (27-1, 16 KO’s). Caro’s record drops to (11-5-4, 9 KO’s).

At the time of the stoppage, the cards were 67-65 for Caro and 67-65 for Concepcion. Curiously, Judge Gwen Adair scored the bout a total shutout for Concepcion at 70-62.

“The low blow took everything out of me,” stated Caro after the bout. “I didn’t want to stop fighting so I continued but I had nothing left.”

Laurente Stops Urena

Dennis Laurente of Paranaque, Philippines took on Arturo Urena of Mazatlan, Mexico in a Junior Welterweight eight rounder. Laurente, a southpaw, came out with speedy combinations that landed well. Good slick movement shown by the Filipino in the second round as he easily evaded Urena. The Mexican was the aggressor and experienced some minor luck when he backed up Laurente into the ropes. Urena kept up the aggression going in the third but Laurente proved too slick and fast as he countered beautifully.

More slick boxing by Laurente in the fourth as he skillfully slipped Urena’s punches. Just as Urena started to land with success, Laurente came back with a nice flurry. Fast combinations landed by Laurente on the hard charging Urena in the fifth. A nice jab by Laurente in the sixth as the courageous Urena withstood the punishment and came forward with successful counterpunching. Laurente cut Urena as the round ended. The ring doctor checked Urena’s eye and determined that he couldn’t come out for round seven due to multiple cuts around the left eye. Laurente improves to (30-3, 16 KO’s). Urena drops to (20-16, 12 KO’s)

Viloria Dominates Lagos

Former WBC 108 lb. world champion Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria (23-2, 13 KO’s) proved too seasoned for Javier “El Nino” Lagos (15-13-2, 4 KO’s) of Houston Texas. The first two rounds were Viloria’s as he easily kept Lagos at bay with a stiff jab after which he would come in with hard straight rights. Viloria started making better use of his left in the third and fourth as he landed to the body along with some uppercuts.

Lagos held tough and absorbed the punches without problems. More domination by Viloria as he worked his way into Lagos’ guard and landed some one, two combinations. Nice body punching by Viloria in the sixth round that definitely shook up Lagos. The eighth round was all Viloria’s as he easily took the stanza for a unanimous decision win. “I felt good in there,” Viloria said afterwards. “I had a good work rate but in the end I could have done more.” 80-72 were the scores given by all three judges

Nakamura Stops Franks

Chika Nakamura of Japan stopped Tammy Franks in the last round of a female lightweight bout. The first round consisted of Chika finding her range and landing some nice punches from the outside. The second round was a little more even as Franks fought back harder and landed some nice uppercuts. The third round came and Chika landed her left repeatedly as she shook up her opponent. More hard lefts from Chika in the fourth as Franks backed up and her head was snapped back again and again. Chika stepped up the action in the sixth as she unleashed several combinations on Franks that went unanswered. Referee Pat Russell stepped in and called a halt to the action at 1:36 of the final round. Chika (7-0, 3 KO’s) looks like an interesting and promising female prospect. Franks’ record drops to (2-6, 1 KO). The charismatic Nakamura also proved to be a big hit with the audience who crowded her for autographs and pictures.

Other results:

Alejandro Martinez (13-0) of Mexicali, Mexico defeated Benito Abraham (9-14-6, 6 KO’s) of Tijuana by unanimous decision in a super bantamweight clash. The judges scored the bout for Martinez with scores of 40-36 all across the board.

The brilliant sportswriter for The San Diego Union Tribune, Jerry Magee, is hanging up his pen after 51 years of sports reporting. Magee not only reported on boxing but also football and tennis. At eighty years old, he penned work that set an incredibly high standard for other sportswriters. After sitting next to him and getting to know him for the last eight years, I’m going miss his excellent observations and company. The Sweet Science wishes Mr. Magee the best in his retirement.